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''Reaching Solemnval was indeed impressive yet still you fled.'' The Pharaoh mercilessly continued. ''Bringing you back home was the only way to make yourself useful to our purpose now but you've shown a little spirit with terminating that loathsome entity and having your entire group survive our fetching. Still, Shereen, have you truly convinced these people to stop us? Nay we say, it is all mere reactions from uncovering our purpose and misunderstanding our intention. <span class="mu-g">You've always been a disappointment.</span>''
Had your body not been modified with Gardy cold, analytic steel, you wouldn't have been able to resist stepping up to protest. It went beyond abuse, Zerase was choking whatever embers of love and appreciation Shereen had for her single-parent. No, it was worse. She was trying to completely destroy Shereen's pride.
Silence stretched into a near full minute where held-back emotions changed the atmosphere into something dangerously murderous. Every witness here had gained yet another reason to abhor this snake.
''I wonder...'' Shereen kept her head down. ''...What is there to accomplish by yourself? You've lived through the Great Crusade, didn't you mother?'' That subject caused Zerase to visibly tilt her head. ''Humanity won by uniting despite all their different cultures and races, they also welcomed monsters wanting to stop Damien.''
''You're right about everything you said, I'm slothful and I don't think I'll change, it's part of me.'' Something screamed from within the horrific pillar of red, a resilient soul tried and failed to extract itself out of it. ''And I was happy to follow Arawn on his errands when we met because I was bored, and then everything escalated, he was the only one standing up to Banu so... yeah I let him lead me around, especially after we met Zhu... he had so many connections, there were so many people waiting for me and he wanted so, so much to go back to them, but finding his missing knight first was most important and...'' She shook her head, took a step forward, rubbed her wet eyes, and looked up to her impossibly tall, powerful mother. ''...<span class="mu-s">You're wrong.</span> Arawn always listened to me, for some reason he gave me a chance, reached his hand to me in friendship despite the collar I put on his neck, when he explained his troubles to me I <span class="mu-s">wanted</span> to help him! And you know what, mother? Yesterday might just have been the best day of my life.''
Another forward step, you took one to keep up without the pharaoh saying anything. <span class="mu-r">Eleven stairs.</span> Good.
